UGC Working on New Norms for College Funding

University Grants Commission UGC has started the process of revamping the rules under which it provides funding to colleges. According to the official sources, UGC in one of its latest meetings discussed that the regulations under which it provides funding to colleges have to be reviewed to keep up with the latest requirements.

As per the draft, UGC will ensure that the college has adequate financial resources of its own so that it is able to meet the running expenditure for at least a year.

UGC Working on New Norms for College Funding

UGC in one of its latest meetings informed that it is working towards revamping the rules under which it provides funding to colleges. As per the draft, UGC will ensure that the college has adequate financial resources of its own so that it is able to meet the running expenditure for at least a year.

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The press release issued by the Ministry stated that they have made recommendations to shift all the grant-related functions to the ministry under the proposed HECI Act. Further, according to the draft, the grant-giving process will be purely merit-based and the process will be conducted online through an objective system that also guarantees transparency and efficiency with minimum human interface.

Highlights of the new Education Act that will shift powers from UGC to HECI:

• Less government and more governance
• Grant realted functions to be separate
• No more inspections
• More emphasis on academic quality
• Authority to enforce compliance with academic quality standards
• Power to order closure of sub-standard & bogus institutions

However, the decision in this regard is still pending even though the recommendations to separate the regulator and the grant-giving process were suggested by several expert committees. It also said that the grant-giving process for institutes will be based on the merit and will be done online to promote transparency and efficiency.

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The main highlight of the recommendation includes less government and more governance. To focus on academic matters and academic quality, it will also work on improving academic quality standards. The new Act is likely to be discussed in Parliament.